Monthly Archives: June 2016

Jersey City Free Books serves the entire community — including those on four legs! We need your help so that we can help both cats and people. Click on this Link for the Amazon Wish List or use the DONATE button. hat’s on the left for a computer screen or click the three horizontal bars if using a smart phone or tablet. Even just dropping off a bag of kitty litter (non-clumping) when the shop is open will mean a lot. If everyone reading this clicked on the DONATE button and gave ONE DOLLAR monthly, we’d be well on the way to providing for suffering cats left to fend for themselves.

I want to shout-out a BIG THANK YOU to someone very generous who has been sending a bag of Iams cat food each week. This has been a HUGE HELP!. I’ve been spending my own grocery money to buy food and medical care for the little crew. And I already was pretty skinny!

Jersey City Free Books serves the entire community — including those on four legs! We need your help so that we can help both cats and people. Click on this Link for the Amazon Wish List or use the DONATE button. hat’s on the left for a computer screen or click the three horizontal bars if using a smart phone or tablet. Even just dropping off a bag of kitty litter (non-clumping) when the shop is open will mean a lot. If everyone reading this clicked on the DONATE button and gave ONE DOLLAR monthly, we’d be well on the way to providing for suffering cats left to fend for themselves.

Script discovered! – the mashup musical of HAMILTON, CATS and VICTOR/VICTORIA !!!
“Homeless on the Grange”

based on an email, sent in 2011 …….

from: a Jersey City lady who lived in a cat zoo – she had so many cats that she couldn’t afford a new shoe (true)…

to: all cat rescue groups in New York City:
“Re: Homeless cat in possible danger

Last Saturday, I came from my home in New Jersey to attend the re-opening of the Hamilton Grange in St. Nicholas Park on 141st St. After my visit, I decided to take a walk up Hamilton Terrace. At about #**-**, I saw a black cat on the sidewalk who looked in bad shape – very thin, dull matted fur, a bare patch the size of a quarter on his rump, and as I recall, chewed up ears as if from fights. I stopped to offer him some cat food,* but he ignored it and kept walking south. I asked someone passing by if he knew who owned the cat, and he said, “He’s the block cat,” and to the effect, “Everyone knows him. He’s been here for years.”

A few seconds later, as I was wrapping up the food, a couple exited a car and were about to enter the house at – I’m 90% certain – #**, although it was possibly #**. The man approached and asked if I was feeding the cat. I understood him to mean on an ongoing basis, so I said no. He then started to complain about the cat’s existence on the block. I attempted twice to tell him about ACC, the Mayor’s Alliance, the ASPCA etc., but he cut me off, just interested in complaining, not in listening. I got the distinct impression that the couple were newcomers to the block. The man said he didn’t want anybody feeding the cat, in the hope that he would go elsewhere. He also said that when they walk their dog, the cat is (he trailed off, implying that the cat is somehow a problem. I assumed that the dog attempts to chase the cat). I bristled at their selfish attitude and responded that the cat had been there all his life (i.e., in contrast to the couple ). He said something else, then they went in the house, and I went on my way. I remained very upset that these people who have everything were willing to see a creature starve to death because of some minor (imagined?) inconvenience, even when a more humane solution was being proposed.

I fear that they might do something to harm this poor animal, and am writing to all Manhattan rescue groups on the Mayor’s Alliance list to see if someone could trap and possibly find him a home. I imagine he hangs out a lot in the churchyard behind St. Luke’s (corner of 141st and Hamilton Terrace), so perhaps the people there might know of him. Someone must be feeding him if he’s been around so long. I just hope I’m not too late in writing.

p.s. every organization seems overwhelmed with animals waiting for adopters or foster homes. I wonder if there is any current effort to get mandatory spay neuter in NYC. Or for that matter in NJ.”

[Postscript, written June 2016] A Queens cat rescuer responded at the time to the email, advising to take the cat to her vet connection in midtown Manhattan. “Cat’s name?” the vet asked. “We may as well name him Alexander.” We discovered later that he was Alexandra.

Glad some New Yorkers stepped in to help a fellow New Yorker in distress. Bringing a black cat, named after Alexander Hamilton, across the Hudson River and toward the Weehawken bluffs wouldn’t have seemed the most auspicious way to begin the cat’s new life. In the new musical, Alexander/ra Hamilton discovers her true identity, stays in NYC and lives happily ever after.

When a bird lover’s boiler failed last December, they realized that quick action was going to be needed to save the lives of their little pets. Even though located eighty miles away in Upstate New York, they drove to New Jersey to bring the birds here. Confidant that we would provide proper care for these Zebra Finches, distance was not a problem.

Jersey City Free Books serves the entire community — including those on four legs! We need your help so that we can help both cats and people. Click on this Link for the Amazon Wish List or use the DONATE button. hat’s on the left for a computer screen or click the three horizontal bars if using a smart phone or tablet. Even just dropping off a bag of kitty litter (non-clumping) when the shop is open will mean a lot. If everyone reading this clicked on the DONATE button and gave ONE DOLLAR monthly, we’d be well on the way to providing for suffering cats left to fend for themselves.

Jersey City Free Books serves the entire community — including those on four legs! We need your help so that we can help both cats and people. Click on this Link for the Amazon Wish List or donate at our GoFundMe Page. Even just dropping off a bag of kitty litter (non-clumping) when the shop is open will mean a lot. If everyone reading even gave SOMETHING, we’d be well on the way to providing for suffering cats left to fend for themselves.

The picture above shows Little Blake the Ouija Cat, one of our success stories, on August 20, 2012. That’s the day she was rescued after being abandoned on Central Ave. near the post office.

Too weak to stand, the very young kitten was covered with fleas. She also had an eye infection, ear mites, ringworm and intestinal parasites.

Luckily, the tyke was small enough and the day was warm enough so that her entire body could be dipped in the bathroom sink. The fleas still on the head were carefully removed with a fine comb. And that was the easy part! The other conditions required considerable care and the application of medication.

The third picture is from a couple of weeks later. Strength and confidence growing, Blake here had commandeered the recycling bin as her abode.

This picture is from only six months later. Now Blake is a regal lady, as she still is today.

In April, we saved these kittens from a one-way trip to the junk yard. The little crew were in an old car that was about to be towed away. Jersey City Cat Rescue took them all in along with their mother.

Say hello to the mom cat (newly named Jemma), now safe and sound with her whole family in the Jersey City Free Books storeroom.

Little Mitzy caught a cold and so took a trip to the vet.

Luckily her recovery was speedy, but the bill was $184.

These are just a few of the many cats that Jersey City Free Books has saved. More need help!